Your classroom is full. It bustles with kids in squeaky, new shoes and oversized backpacks. Some of their smiles are shy, their eyes wide and nerves evident. Others squirm and hop their way around the room, their energy radiating out through a little body that struggles to hold still.

“Welcome to Kindergarten!”

You’ve written each of their names on little placards dotted with star stickers. Over the coming year, these names will grow from mere faces into personalities and stories that you know and love.

But what you don’t know is that there’s a name missing from your class list this year.

You’re one spiderman backpack short.
One tousled-haired child with a mischevious grin is missing.

So this may be the “August reads” but if I’m being entirely truthful, half of these books were read last month. This month has been busy as I’ve been focused on my writing and haven’t had a ton of time to read. (In case you haven’t heard, I have some exciting book news on my own!)

But, that’s part of the fun of the challenge, right? Navigating life and squeezing in moments to read — even if that means it’s only a paragraph or two at a time. Hopefully, I’ll get back on the book track for September, but for now, here are my “August” reads:

Sometimes, though, it can be challenging to find board games suitable for younger kids. Their attention spans are short. Their hand-eye-coordination is still developing. And they can’t always follow along with complex rules. So to make the shopping a little easier, here are some of my favourite board games for kids under five.

**There are no affiliate products in this post — just fun games we love to play!**Continue reading →